In June
I listened to (and loved) Lana Del Rey’s Ultraviolence (the second-best album
of the year), and found a positive correlation between the success of pop stars
and costumes designed by The Blonds.

July
brought heartbreak as The Libertines played a substandard set at Hyde Park for
the most poorly organised day festival I have ever had the misfortune of
attending. Luckily, my faith was fully restored just months later when The Libertines
pulled it out of the bag at Alexandra Palace and cemented their place in my
heart even further when signing a new record contract alongside a
sober-of-his-own-freewill Pete Doherty (keep going, Pete!)

September
belonged to Kate Bush. Her Before The Dawn residency was a life changing experience. Nothing looked, sounded or felt the same afterwards. And *smug
alert* I had the complete luck of seeing the show twice! As I work in
Hammersmith, I found it strangely comforting to know that most days of the
week, Kate Bush was living her life just around the corner. I couldn’t help
myself but return to the Apollo and join the cancellation line. Despite being
nowhere near the front of the queue, the kindness of a total stranger prevailed and I was offered a spare ticket (for one of the best seats in the house!) and
even treated to a tour programme afterwards. Music promoter David
Gentum/Gentim (sp?) if you’re out there – please get in touch!

My
highlights of October and November were seeing two live pop spectaculars
from Pharrell Williams and Lady Gaga. Two totally different types of show, but both
equally fun and worthy of five-star ratings.

And
December? Does it really count? The Mushpit returned to print and everyone stopped releasing music (unless you're Mark Ronson and are forced to...) so I switched off...